Advertising
Alice Babs, a Swedish singer acclaimed for her work with Duke Ellington, died on Tuesday in Stockholm. She was 90.
Her lawyer, Thomas Bodstrom, announced her death to the Swedish news media.
Ms. Babs, a soprano with a three-octave range, first performed with Ellington’s orchestra in Europe in 1963, and though she was never a full-time member, she worked with Ellington frequently. She first drew widespread praise from American jazz critics for her performances at his so-called Sacred Concerts.
Reviewing one such concert, held at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in Manhattan in 1968, John S. Wilson of The New York Times praised the “warmth and strength” of Ms. Babs’s voice and said that she “took her place among the top rank of Ellingtonians — those instrumentalists and singers who have brought special distinction to the Ellington ensemble and who have drawn unique inspiration from the Duke’s direction during the last 40 years.”
She had already been a pop star in Europe for two decades when she first worked with Ellington, appearing in several movies and representing Sweden at the 1958 Eurovision Song Contest. In the late 1950s and early ’60s she worked with two Danish musicians, the violinist Svend Asmussen and the guitarist Ulrik Neumann, in the group Swe-Danes, which performed in the United States as well as Europe.
In 1972 Ms. Babs was the first non-opera singer to be named Sweden’s royal court singer. She later became a member of the Royal Academy of Music. She continued to perform and record occasionally into the 21st century.
Alice Babs was born Hildur Alice Nilsson on Jan. 26, 1924, in Vastervik, Sweden. Her survivors include three children. Her husband, Nils Ivar Sjoblom, died in 2011.
*****
No comments:
Post a Comment